Drug Addiction : Today 's Society

Drug abuse is a worldwide problem and one that has plagued the United States for decades. Drug abuse negatively impacts not only the individual user, but also our society as a whole. The fight to prevent the manufacturing and trafficking of illegal drugs into the country has made very little impact on its accessibility to those that wish to partake. According to the National Drug Control Budget Report for 2015, the President of the United States request $25.4 Billion in Fiscal Year 2015 in order to reduce drug use and its consequences in the U.S. (National Drug Control Budget, 2014). In addition to the enormous amount of money the federal government has pledged to fight this social problem, there are numerous organizations and institutions committed to keeping people off drugs and rehabilitating those fortunate enough to have survived their use. Two organizations working to do solve the problem of drug abuse and the associated destructive behaviors are the Drug Abuse Resistance Education also known as D.A.R.E. program and Narcotics Anonymous.

Drug abuse does not only impact a person’s well-being, but it also negatively impacts society. The economy is impacted by health costs incurred from prevention, treatment, and hospital visits. Public Safety is impacted by drug-affected driving. Operating a vehicle under the influence is illegal and dangerous for the driver, passenger(s), and other people on the road. There are three classifications for drug abuse related crime: nexus, economic-compulsive, and systemic. Drug abuse also hinders productivity because addiction causes an individual to constantly seek the drug while deeming all other things less important. Companies experience loss of potential income from employees that are under the influence, incarcerated, hospitalized, or seeking treatment. Finally, economic consequences effect specific populations which include children, women, and people with low-income. Drug prevention strategies have been identified as a way to decrease economic consequences on society (“Economic Consequences of Drug Abuse,” 2013).

To summarize, America is in the midst of a drug epidemic. An epidemic that we have been combating, but unfortunately we have not been wining. However, with public opinion shifting regarding punishment, new treatment options available and the medical community recognizing addiction for the disease it is, we are following a path to effectively dealing with this epidemic. Addiction

If the United States is serious about winning the war on drugs, it will have to face some hard facts about the failure of its drug policy to date. Since Reagan introduced the war on drugs in the early 1980s, the focus of anti-drug legislation has been on incarceration and eradication, not on drug education and treatment. Drug use is viewed as a crimethe same way that burglary and murder are viewed as crimeswithout examining the social and economic causes behind drug use. This categorization of drug use as criminal misrepresents the nature of addiction. Drug addicts do not abuse drugs because they are deviant or even because they consciously desire to cause harm to themselves or to those around them, they abuse drugs because they are

Illegal drugs have addictive properties that make it hard to stop abusing them. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse more than sixty percent of patients suffering from drug addiction relapse into abuse(National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2000). Depending on the type of illegal drug, the level of addictive

Drug abuse in America is evidently a huge problem, yet remains to be misunderstood by many people. Elizabeth Foy Larsen writes a strong, informative article about a young woman named Brittany who has fallen to drug abuse. Brittany was a drug free, well rounded student with great potential just like many other young adults in America. However, one occasion flipped her life completely upside down. She had gotten her wisdom teeth removed and received prescription medication to reduce her pain. She soon found the new pain medication to be to her satisfaction. After the pain faded away, Brittany made a decision that would commence her addiction. She used the now unneeded medication thinking it would be her last time. The sensation she felt influenced her to use it again. This occurrence began to repeat itself until Brittany found herself to be dependent on the drugs. “And when you 're under 25, it 's even easier for the drugs to take the wheel, since your brain is still developing--and therefore more susceptible to addiction” (Larsen, ℙ15). She then began to spend her time with a different group of friends, who introduced her to other illegal drugs. Larsen states in the article, “That means that when the prescription drugs become too difficult to find, many once-straightlaced teens turn to illegal drugs, like heroin. In fact, four out of five heroin users started abusing drugs by taking prescription opioids, according to the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids” (Larsen, ℙ15). In

As reiterated by Barbara Bibel, historic data reveals that the worldwide use of mind-altering drugs dates back to 5,000 BCE (Bibel 6). This fact proves that drug abuse is not a new dilemma nor has an effective solution to this age old problem been found. Over the centuries, substance abuse has been proven to be a contributing fact to a slew of social conditions such as the spread of HIV/Aids and increased crime rates, and has made many victims to the addictive properties of drugs. Unfortunately, America is not exempt from the global, dangerous and deadly effects of drug abuse. The abuse of prescription and illegal drugs has devastated American history, the present condition of the family system and projections for America’s future society.

Substance abuse is very common in today's culture. There are many different substances that are abused. The most common abused substances are illegal street drugs and alcohol followed by prescription pills and medications. Technically speaking, most anything can be abused if it is taken excessively and without caution or consideration to the suggested directions. Even over the counter medications can be abused. It usually when unseen potential for dependence or abusive behaviors arise out of the general population that the authorities step in and begin to restrict its use.

The drug problems in America will not change until a proactive approach is taken on drug issues. The first step would be convincing America that addiction is a disease that should be treated as an illness and not as a criminal act deserving punishment. In The Journal of Gender, Race, and Justice, author Andre Cummings spoke about the war on drugs and the cost of prisons as it relates to our economy and the influx of incarcerations due to drug offenses. Cummings titled it a “mass incarceration,” he said “The United States has increased its incarceration rate in the last thirty years by more than an astonishing 335%” (Cummings, 2012) In a study from 1920-2006, “The United States has less than 5% of the world’s population. But it has almost 25% of the world’s prisoners.” (Cummings, 2012) The majority of those incarcerated are for drug offenses or something pertaining to the sale, manufacture, and/or distribution of an illegal

When you hear the words drug addict you think of desensitizing terms, like “junkie” or “crack head” and when you see someone panhandling for money on the street, passed out, or swaying in a doorway you likely wonder, “why don’t they just get help?” Maia Szalavitz, author of Unbroken Brain, points out an article about our finger-pointing mentality on drug abuse, “Addiction is one of the most serious health problems we face today and as of 2010, more than 23 million people have an addiction to drugs. According to the National Institutes of Health, these addictions contribute to more than 100,000 deaths per year.” Drug abuse is a major problem in the United States and throughout the world as more and more people become addicted every day.

Although some people argue for the legalization of drugs, addiction to these substances has caused a huge increase in violent crimes in the home, at school, and on the street. Many people do not understand why individuals become addicted to drugs or how drugs change the brain to create compulsive drug abuse. They mistakenly view drug abuse and addiction as strictly a social problem and may characterize those who take drugs as morally weak. One very common belief is that drug abusers should be able to just stop taking drugs if they are only willing to change their behavior. This is a false and uneducated belief. Drug abuse may start as a social problem or social escape but one the addiction has taken ahold of a person

Drug Addiction itself affects almost ­”Twenty-three million Americans are currently addicted to alcohol and/or other drugs. Only one in 10 percent of them (2.6 million) receives the treatment they need. The result: a treatment gap of more than 20 million Americans”(Writer, B. J. 2010). Drug Addiction is it truly a disease or a choice? Many state authority figures say it 's a choice not a disease much of science says it 's a choice disease, both in a sense are correct, this paper will outline both aspect and possibly give new insight to you, the reader however, it may possibly back up what the reader believes to be true in the first place. The history of drug use is almost as old as mankind itself.

In America, drug addiction is everywhere. In fact, according to CBS News, more than one in three Americans used opioid painkillers in 2015 alone (Thompson, “1 in 3 Americans Prescribed Opioids”). This number is startlingly high, especially considering the fact that America is in the midst of a heroin epidemic. There have been many proposals on how to lower and treat drug addiction, such as having pharmaceutical companies stop offering monetary incentives for doctors to write prescriptions or jailing non-violent repeat offenders, but sadly nothing has been created and integrated in a way that makes it conducive to those suffering from addiction rather than focusing only on putting the minds of other civilians at ease. In order to treat drug addiction effectively, America must come together as a nation with compassion and empathy, allowing those who are addicted to seek help and safety rather than judgement and harsh treatment. Too often do people look only at the addiction, rather than the larger issue at play- the fact that we refuse to treat sufferers of drug addictions as real human beings who deserve a chance at rehabilitation. Because of this, I believe that drug addiction should be treated as a physical illness through means of comprehensive care, compassion, and rehabilitation programs. If we treat addiction as the serious issue it is, we can help to reduce and possibly even eliminate drug addiction.

Drug abuse is a major public health issue that impacts society both directly and indirectly; every person, every community is somehow affected by drug abuse and addiction and this economic burden is not exclusive to those who use substance, it inevitably impacts those who don 't. Drugs impact our society in various ways including but not limited to lost earnings, health care expenditures, costs associated with crime, accidents, and deaths. The use of licit or illicit drugs long term, causes millions of deaths and costs billions for medical care and substance abuse rehabilitation and the effects of drug abuse extend beyond users, spilling over into the society at large, imposing increasing

Drug addiction is one of society 's biggest problems and it is rampant among teenagers and young adults and one of the most abused drugs is marijuana. Cannabis sativa or marijuana usually grows throughout tropical and temperate climates and then plant 's stems, leaves, flowers, and seeds are then dried. What attracts to most users is the mind altering effect these parts produce which is addictive to some extent. It is usually smoked as cigarette, or in a pipe. It is also smoked in blunts, in which cigars will be emptied of tobacco and refill with marijuana or sometimes it is combined with another drug. It can also be brewed as tea or mixed in food. Hashis is a more concentrated, resinous form which is sticky black liquid, hash oil. The